Huawei Ascend G510 pictures and hands-on

The idea of the G510 is that it's a budget handset for pay-as-you-go customers looking for a slightly larger device with a bit more power than the phones that hover around the £100 range.

What you get is a dual-core processor running at 1.3GHz, runs Jelly Bean and has 512MB of RAM. There's also a 218ppi 854 x 480 pixel screen and a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash. Apps include DLNA support and a handful of shortcuts to free-play EA games like The Simpsons Tapped Out, plus Huawei's back-up app, which we quite like.

We haven't spent long with the phone, this is really just a show-and-tell, but the first thing we noticed was that the screen was a little dim, even on its brightest setting. You can see this in the images to some extent, but we think in bright sun things will be troublesome. Good points include the battery, which is 1700mAh, which should see you through a day of normal use, and features like NFC.

It also features Huawei's new "Emotion" overlay, which adds some customisation to the device in the form of a new launcher with 3D-effect transitions when scrolling around the home screens. It also customises the menu to separate the setting into general and everything else. This is actually quite handy, as it takes the confusion out of the settings for less advanced users. Interestingly, Huawei also seems to have done away with the separate app tray, preferring to put shortcuts on the phone's home screen.

The biggest disappointment though, is that Vodafone is currently listing the handset at £180, which might be a little expensive and - considering that the 8GB Nexus 4 is only £60 more sim-free - it might struggle to attract the budget audience. That said, the Huawei has a microSD card slot, giving you access to 32GB extra storage, which outshines the Nexus considerably. But it is a much less powerful device overall.

It's an interesting package, perhaps one that's not priced as competitively as it should be, but it's well worth looking at if you can get a deal. A full review will follow soon.

UPDATE: We have now been told that the price listed on Vodafone's site was a mistake, this handset should be listed for £130.